‘Men are using Hinge as Airbnb’: Woman says a match asked to crash for the weekend, and it wasn’t a one-off

Some men are reportedly using dating apps like Hinge to secure free accommodation rather than to find a romantic connection. Creator Emily Durham described this trend in a video on TikTok, sharing a story from one of her close friends. “Men are using Hinge as Airbnb,” the text overlay read. 

According to Durham, her friend matched with a man on Hinge who seemed like a good prospect at first. Things seemed normal until he mentioned he lived about an hour away and suggested he might need to stay over after their date.

When the friend turned down the request, the man kept pushing. He said he had social events in her neighborhood on Friday and Sunday, so he argued it made sense for him to stay at her place for the whole weekend.

Man reportedly dropped the pretense of a traditional date

The man eventually stopped pretending this was a normal date. Durham says he told her friend, “Well, honestly, I’m not looking for anything serious. I’m not looking for anything long term. I just want to take you out, have a good time, and spend the weekend together.”

This is not the first time people have pointed out this kind of behavior. Social media users have used terms like “Tindersurfing” and “hobosexual” to describe people who use dating apps to find free places to stay.

One widely shared example involved a 25-year-old Belgian man who reportedly traveled through eight countries and stayed with 21 different hosts he met through Tinder. According to The Independent, he allegedly changed his location settings before arriving in each new city to find his next place to sleep. Similar romantic scams can lead to severe financial loss, as in this Australian woman’s Bumble match.

Reddit users have shared similar stories about people who move quickly to secure housing through dating connections. One user wrote that when a match pushes for a place to stay this early, “it means he doesn’t have secure living arrangements and is looking for a woman to take him in.” Another commenter agreed, saying, “He doesn’t have his own place. That’s the sign.” 

A third user added, “Yes they are real. Make sure you go to their house early in dating.” Boundary-pushing behavior like this isn’t limited to dating apps, as shown by a delivery driver who asked a customer for her phone number after a no-contact drop-off.

Viewers who responded to Durham’s video were not particularly surprised by these tactics. One commenter wrote, “they are also using AI to talk to you :)” Another joked, “The app should be named « Unhinged » at this point.”

One person shared a related experience, writing, “When I told a man he couldn’t come over he told me straight up ‘that’s not what I’m looking for.'” Others suggested handling such requests bluntly, with one writing, “oh girl that’s easy bc the answer is no.” Another added, “She could have told him the nightly rate is $1,000. He would have backed out so fast.”

Some commenters reflected on their own experiences with the app itself. One wrote, “I was recently banned from Hinge so God does work in mysterious ways 😅.” Another asked, “When are we gonna learn to stop using dating apps??”